The Shadorian Shackles
by Daylight
Summary: The friendship between Andros and Zhane is tested when a mysterious object has a strange affect on Andros.
1. Part 1

Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers. (For now!!! MUHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!)

Author's Note: Yes! I'm finally writing again!! Now everyone must be wondering where the continuations to the other stories I wrote are. Well…um…they're on back order somewhere. I'll write them someday. I promise. I have an outline of 10 more stories in the Different Directions series, really!

PS: Dedicated to Starfire and Pam Marks: Two great friends and writers who I haven't talked to in too long.

PPS: Most of this story is already written so please review and I will post more soon.

PPPS: Now in the (hopefully) easier to read version!

The Shadorian Shackles

By Daylight

         The rangers trudged along the muddy edges of the roaring river. It streamed besides them crashing into the rocks and smashing anything in its way. They walked as close as they dared occasionally slipping on the wet rocks, fighting through trees and undergrowth when they could no longer walk along the bank. Their eyes searched in vain to see something among the frothing water other than the jutting rocks. They pushed back their fear and confusion to concentrate on what they needed to do. A life depended on it. The others occasionally lifted their glances to stare despairingly at each other, but Zhane's eyes never left the water.

         Then they saw him. Pulled along by the currents, face down, his darkened hair spread out around his head, his clothes billowed by the water as he floated downstream. His skin was deathly white and he did not stir.

         They ran, scrambling along rocks, trying to keep an eye on the splash of colour in the middle of the stream while the river mercilessly pushed it further away. The vegetation grabbed at them, but they pushed them aside. Rocks barred their way, but they climbed over them. They skidded and slid as they desperately tried to get ahead of the body, desperately hoping that it would be more than a body that they would be fishing out of the water.

         Zhane was in the lead forcing everything he had into his speed. He got ahead of the body. At the first opportunity, he jumped onto a rock that jutted out of the side of the river. He braced himself, waiting for the floating form to pass by. Shaking from exertion and fear, he swiftly bent down and grabbed an arm holding it tight, but the weight of the body and the pull of the river threatened to throw him in. His knuckles turned white as he refused to let go. He felt his feet slipping when a strong arm pulled him back. The rangers behind him had formed a chain. Cassie had an arm wrapped securely around his waist and Carlos had locked elbows with her. They stopped Zhane from falling in and he used their strength to heave Andros out of the river's grasp.

         On the other shore, TJ and Ashley stood frozen not daring to look away as the drenched, limp form was dragged through the water and onto the muddy bank. The water streamed off Andros as the rangers lay him down on the shore. Kneeling down, Carlos dragged the wet hair off Andros' face and began to resuscitate him. Cassie and Zhane knelt on the other side and watched anxiously. It only took a few seconds though seemed like an eternity to the rangers before Andros stirred. They quickly turned him over as he started to choke up all the water in his lungs. Overwhelmed with relief, Zhane and Carlos held Andros up while Cassie gently rubbed his back. When he'd finished, Zhane pulled Andros on to his lap and held him close as he began to shiver.

         Andros blinked and looked up at Zhane.

         "How am I doing?" he croaked.

         Zhane gazed over his friend whose soaked clothes clung to pale skin. 

         "Could be worse," said Zhane, unsuccessfully trying to smile.

         "You always say that," whispered Andros before he fell back into unconsciousness. His head rested against Zhane, his body limp. In the background, Zhane could hear TJ talking into his communicator to DECA, but Zhane was completely focused on his best friend. As he felt the tingling sensation of the teleportation, he took one last look at the river trying to understand the events that had led Andros to jump into its claws.

****


	2. Part 2

_(Flashback)_

_Astronema was always planning something. Unlike the previous supposed conquerors of Earth, she did not send monsters down in a fit of rage. Astronema had bigger plans on her mind. Every battle had a purpose whether it was to gather information, tire the rangers out or distract them. When the quantrons she sent down that afternoon were being easily beaten, the rangers knew something was up. They faced them unmorphed, but kept their eyes open for traps._

_In the midst of the chaotic battle, Andros somersaulted over Zhane knocking back a quantron on his way to the ground. Grabbing another one, he sent it careening over to the Silver Ranger to deal with before looking around to see if any of his other friends needed help. He was about to join TJ who was facing off more quantrons then the rest when he was grabbed from behind. He immediately tried to get loose, but metal fingers dug into his shoulders and forced him down. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was shoved onto the pavement. He felt more hands grab hold of him. Looking up from his position on the ground, he saw the heads of five quantrons. The one who had pushed him down had a hold of his shoulders while the others each had hold of an arm or a leg. Andros grimaced and began to wriggle away, but just as he was about to knock two of them off, he felt cold metal bands being slammed onto his wrists. The cold quickly turned to fire as his arms began to burn. He ceased fighting as his arms spasmed and his body went limp._

_By the time, his wrists had stopped burning and he was once again aware of the outside world, he heard the crunch of metal. He looked up to find Ashley had kicked another quantron into the ones holding him knocking three of them over. Regaining his strength, he double punched the one holding his shoulders while Ashley dealt with the last one with a high kick._

_"Are you alright?" asked Ashley, kneeling next to him on the ground._

_Sitting up, Andros glanced down at his wrists, but though they were still sore, the metal bands were no longer there. A quick look around showed that the quantrons were also no longer surrounding them. Ashley put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried look. He gave a little smile to reassure her; then rubbing his wrists, stood up._

_"I'm fine," he told Ashley, not wanting her to worry._

_"Sure?" she asked concerned, her hand still resting on his shoulder._

_Andros smiled again and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "You rescued me just in time."_

_*How come I never get a kiss when I rescue you*, teased Zhane mentally. Andros turned to scowl at his best friend, missing the blush that crept over Ashley's face as she touched her cheek.  _

_The other rangers had finished off the quantrons and were heading towards them. All of them appeared to have come through the battle unscathed. Zhane looked over Andros checking mentally and physically for any injuries. Andros self-consciously pulled down the sleeves of his shirt over his wrists. Zhane frowned but said nothing._

_TJ slapped his hand on Andros' back. "Let's head back to the Surf Spot. Hopefully, Adelle still has our food waiting for us."_

_****_

_That evening Andros took a detour to the medical bay on his way to bed making sure the others didn't notice. If any of the other rangers had noticed the way, he kept rubbing his wrists that evening, they hadn't mentioned it and Andros didn't plan to tell them. He didn't want them to worry. Andros didn't think it was anything serious, but he was curious as to why the pain hadn't receded much after the battle. Pulling up his sleeves to look, Andros was shocked. Strange symbols had been branded into the skin around his wrists._

_He slumped onto a one of the medical beds and stared numbly at the burnt skin. The ever-watchful Deca grew concerned._

_"Is something the matter, Andros?" the computer queried. _

_"I don't know," he said._

_****_


	3. Part 3

_         Zhane rolled over and snuggled deeper into his bed as he ignored the sound of Deca's alarm. As the sound increased, he placed his pillow over his head and tried to fall back asleep, but somewhere in his foggy brain he realized that it was useless. Deca could patiently turn up the alarm until he was deaf. Even worse, she could send Andros after him._

_         "Ok," he muttered. "I'm up."_

_         The alarm stopped. He reluctantly squiggled out of his bed and onto the floor. He pulled on a clean uniform before he groggily made his way along the gray corridors to the synthetron._

_         Zhane wasn't surprised to find himself the only one in the launch bay. The others were probably already searching for Zordon having eaten a while ago. Grabbing a muffin and stuffing it into his mouth, he headed up to the bridge.  _

_         As the lift doors opened, he heard Cassie call out "Looks like Sleeping Beauty's up." Zhane narrowed his eyes, not getting the reference, but considering Cassie's tone of voice decided not to take it as a compliment. Cassie, TJ, Carlos and Ashley were all at various workstations on the bridge. All of them had turned towards Zhane as they heard the lift arrive and were smiling at Cassie's comment._

_         "I can't help that I need more sleep than you guys," Zhane said, grinning._

_         "I thought you'd have had enough sleep after the two years in the cryogenics chamber," she replied._

_Continuing to grin, Zhane tried not to let his discomfort about that subject show. No one seemed to notice._

_"You're certainly having a bad influence on Andros," added TJ._

_"What do you mean?" asked Zhane._

_"Deca says he's still asleep," replied Ashley, "and he's usually the first one up."_

_"He probably was just up late searching for his sister," put in Carlos._

_"But he's usually up early anyway," Zhane muttered to himself. Beginning to get a little worried, Zhane did a quick mental check on his friend, but he was only able to tell that Andros was indeed still asleep. "He's probably just catching up on his sleep," he told the others. "I'll go wake him up."_

_The other rangers could not help noticing the evil grin Zhane had on his face as he left the room. They simply shook their heads and thanked God that they weren't the ones about to be woken up by Zhane._

_****_

_Without bothering to knock, Zhane entered Andros' quarters. Andros was still lying on his bunk fast asleep, so Zhane went over and started prodding his friend. Andros rolled on to his back, but didn't wake up. Zhane pocked some more, but since this did not seem to be having the desired effect, Zhane decided to use drastic measures. Sitting himself down on his best friend's stomach, Zhane began to tell jokes. Bad jokes. Extremely bad jokes._

_He began._

_"Did you hear about the pilot who went on sick leave? He had the flew."  _

_Getting no response, he continued.  _

_"A skeleton walks into a bar. He says, "Get me a beer and a mop." " _

_ Zhane laughed at himself, but Andros did not stir. So, he started talking louder and using deadlier jokes.  _

_"Two sodium atoms were talking together. The first atom said, "Help, somebody has stolen one of my electrons." The second atom asked, "Are you sure?" The first atom replied, "I'm positive!!""  _

_Andros' eyes fluttered opened and he moaned. Zhane grinned.  _

_"Mummy why do I keep going round in circles? Shut up or I'll nail your other foot to the floor."_

_Andros lifted his weary arms weekly trying to fight against Zhane._

_"Two strings walk into a bar. The first tries to order something. "I don't serve strings in this bar," the bartender says roughly and throws him out. The second ruffs himself up, ties his ends together, walks in, and orders. "Hey, didn't you hear what I told your buddy?" the bartender says. "Yeah," the string says. "Aren't you a string?" the bartender says. "I'm a frayed knot," the string replies. "_

_"Enough," groaned Andros as he managed to shove his friend off him and on to the floor. Andros sat and rubbed his eyes. "What did I do to deserve that kind of wake up call?"_

_"As if you haven't done worse to me," muttered Zhane. He sat up and grabbed a handful of hair saying, "You've overslept, Lazy Bones."_

_"What?" said Andros. "Deca, what time is it?"_

_"09:30, Andros," replied the computer._

_"Why didn't you wake me?"_

_"It appeared that you need the sleep."_

_Andros glared at Deca's camera while Zhane frowned._

_"Nightmares again?" he asked._

_"It's nothing," replied Andros trying to avoid the subject._

_"What was it about?"_

_Andros stood slightly stiffly to his feet and met Zhane's gaze._

_"I dreamed that I was paralyzed."_

_****_


	4. Part 4

_         "Your time's almost up, Zhane."_

_         The cry was scarcely finished when the ball raced towards Cassie's outstretched hands. It was only inches from her, when Andros snatched the ball from the air. Twirling around, he rebounded the ball to Ashley who slammed it into the hoop._

_         "Wohoo!!" cried Ashley giving Andros and Carlos a high five._

_         "Don't celebrate yet," called Cassie from the side of the court where she was grabbing a drink from her water bottle. "We still have one more round to go."_

_         TJ picked up the ball and tossed it back to Zhane._

_         "Let's go!" he said and the two teams quickly got back in position._

_         This time Zhane faked to Cassie before he completed a successful pass to TJ. TJ in turn passed to Cassie who was next to the net. Cassie turned towards the basket to find Andros in her way._

_****_

_         High above the earth in a dark fortress, a sinister voice commanded, "Begin the test."_

_****_

_         Cassie danced around trying to find an opening as Andros blocked her attempts at shooting a basket. She was about to try a pass back to TJ when an arm came down slamming against her neck. The ball fell to the concrete floor. It bounced along the court until it reached the grass of Angel Grove Park and rolled away. Cassie impacted the ground her skin scraping against the rough ground. She placed a hand against the pain before looking up in shock at her attacker._

_         Andros looked back in equal shock. He glanced up at the rest of his friends, frozen with the same feeling of shock; then, his eyes locked onto his right hand, which he held against his body, his left hand around the wrist._

_         "Andros?" Zhane whispered, quietly approaching him._

_         Ashley and Carlos remained silent, still frozen._

_         "Why the hell d'you do that?" TJ demanded. He went over to help Cassie up while glaring at the person who he had thought was their friend. "Cassie could've…" he started to shout._

_         "Teej," Zhane who had reached Andros' side cut him off with a warning tone. TJ gave him a confused look, but didn't say anything more._

_         "Andros?" Zhane asked again._

_         Andros shuffled away. He shivered and looked around edgily. "Cassie…. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Zhane reached out to comfort his friend, but Andros flinched away. "I'm sorry," he said again. Turning away, he ran off into the park._

_         "Andros!" shouted Zhane. He gave a quick look at his teammates before running after his best friend. The others swiftly followed._

_****_

_         When the rangers finally caught up with Andros, they found him standing in the middle of the small bridge that crossed Angel Grove's only river. He was staring down at the rushing water, his hands clasping the rail. Zhane walked up to Andros and stood next to him. The other rangers approached, but Zhane indicated for them to stay back. _

_          Zhane studied his best friend's face. Andros was pale, his teeth clenched together, his eyes almost seemed glazed over as he stared unblinking at the river. There was a hint of pain in his eyes visible only to Zhane._

_         "Are you okay?"_

_         "I'm fine," grumbled Andros_

_         Not believing him, Zhane followed Andros' gaze downwards to the river. In doing so, he saw that Andros' hands were shaking. Distantly, Zhane remembered how Andros had been rubbing his wrists after the battle the other day. He gave his friend's face another quick glance before grabbing Andros' right arm and pulling up his sleeve. The rangers gasped at the burnt black symbols on the reddened skin._

_         "What the hell?" breathed Carlos as Ashley ran over to Andros' side. Zhane kept her back.  _

_         "Why didn't you tell us?" he asked as he started reaching down to check Andros' other wrist._

_****_

_         "No! The rangers have found it out already. Reactivate it! It's time to finish the Silver Ranger."_

_***_

_         Andros blocked Zhane's hand and grasped Zhane's neck with his right hand. Squeezing Zhane's throat, Andros pushed him backwards until Zhane was bending over the rail towards the water.  _

_         The other rangers rushed over to help Zhane, but he called out through his strained throat "Stay back!" Staring into, Andros' eyes, Zhane found no malice or anger only fear._

_         Suddenly, Andros pulled Zhane back from the edge and threw him onto the floorboards of the bridge. Zhane landed on his back his eyes not leaving Andros', but Andros squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head, his face contorted in pain._

_         "Andros?" said Zhane reaching out towards him._

_         Andros lunged for Zhane as if to attack him again then abruptly stopped. He screamed, "No!" and threw himself off the bridge._

_         Zhane and the others ran to the edge. Their screams flowing down the river with their friend._

_(Flashback Ends)_

_****_


	5. Part 5

         Zhane and Carlos lifted Andros onto the medbay bed while TJ commanded DECA to increase the interior temperature by several degrees. The girls waited impatiently outside while the boys rid Andros of his soaked clothes. Carlos dumped the ruined garments to the side while Zhane dried Andros off. They placed him in a simple red tracksuit leaving his locket with him and wrapping him up in a thermal blanket.

         Ashley and Cassie quickly rejoined the guys and the rangers gathered around the bed waiting for the results of Deca's scans. Ashley held onto Andros' right hand being wary of the burn marks. Cassie stood by her for comfort. TJ leaned against the wall frustrated that he couldn't help with the confusing situation while Carlos stared at the scanner screens. Studying the marks on Andros' left wrist, Zhane frowned.

         "DECA, search for anything in your databanks similar to these symbols."

         "Do you have an idea?" asked Cassie looking up.

         "Maybe," muttered Zhane; then he stated more loudly for the others to hear, "There was an old folk tale on KO-35 about a relic leftover from some ancient civilization which died out a long time ago. It was a pair of shackles that were supposed to be able to control a person's movements. That person was a slave to the owner of the shackles even when the shackles were removed." Zhane held up Andros' wrist so the others could see. "And the person was left with their mark."

         The silence that followed was interrupted by Deca's announcement.

         "Match found."

         The rangers jumped.

         "What did you find?" asked TJ.

         "The symbols match those of the written language of the Shadorian civilization which is believed to have once populated KO-13. The Shadorians lived several millennia ago and consisted of…"

         Carlos cut her off. "What do the symbols say?"

         "Translation unavailable."

         "Damn!"

         Ashley looked up. "What about that story Zhane told us?"

         The rangers looked at Deca's camera expectantly.

         "The myth of the Shadorian shackles is one of several stories associated with the Shadorian civilization."

         "Is there anything in the myth about how someone can be freed from the shackles?" asked Cassie.

         "A person can be released from the shackles' spell by destroying the shackles themselves."

         "But who has the shackles?" asked Carlos.

         "Who else," TJ stated grimly.

         "Astronema."

****

         Astronema sat, legs crossed, on her metal throne in the dark fortress. She frowned as she watched the quantrons scurry back and forth in front of her. Brandishing her staff, she stood up and marched towards where her henchman Ecliptor was looking over various equipment.

         "Why isn't it working?" she demanded.

         "The red ranger appears to have put up a stronger resistance than we anticipated, your Highness," the crystalline being replied. "It may work better if we increase the strength of the shackles' spell."

         "Then do it!" Astronema commanded.

         "I'm afraid that the ranger is still recovering from the incident at the river. He would be of little use to us at the moment."

         Astronema growled, but said calmly, "Fine, we can wait. Soon the red ranger will bring about the destruction of the other rangers and himself."


	6. Part 6

            "We should confiscate his morpher," said Cassie. The other rangers nodded, but hesitated to take the morpher off the wrist of their leader. Zhane carefully removed it and handed to Carlos. Carlos nodded.

            "I'll put it somewhere safe," he said and left the room.

            "We need a plan," stated TJ.

            They were in the middle of coming up with a plan when Zhane suddenly jumped off the stool he was seated on. He leaned over where Andros lay and called his name. The other rangers gathered round as they saw Andros stir.

            "Zhane," he mumbled. Andros opened his eyes, and then suddenly sat up a startled look on his face. "Zhane!" he cried.

            "I'm right here, Andros," replied Zhane as Cassie and Ashley forced Andros to once again lie down. Carlos ran in having heard the shout.

            "I couldn't…" Andros started.

            "Shhh," said Ashley," It's not your fault."

            "Astronema has been using Shadorian shackles to control your movements," explained Carlos.

            Andros groaned. He raised his hand to rub his eyes, but stopped when he saw again the burns on his wrist and lowered it back down.

            "Did you know?" asked TJ. "Did you know about the Shadorian Shackles?"

            "TJ!"

            Andros closed his eyes. "I've heard about the shackles, but I didn't associate them with the marks on my wrist."

            "You should have told us," whispered Ashley.

            "I know. I'm sorry," he replied," I'm just used to solving my problems on my own."

            "You've never been good at asking for help," said Zhane smiling. "I've been trying to break you of that habit for years."

            Andros smiled for a second then it faded to frown. His fingers twitched. The rangers watched as Andros' muscles tensed, his hands squeezed into to fists and his body began to shake.

            "Andros!" cried Ashley. Zhane grabbed his arms, TJ his legs as Andros fought against his own body. He squeezed his eyes shut as his struggles became increasingly violent.

            "I can't…" he tried to say.

            "Fight it!" pleaded Carlos. "You can do it!"

            The struggles slowed then ceased, but Andros still shook.

            "It hurts," he managed to wheeze out.

****

            "Turn up the intensity!" commanded Astronema.

****

            The rangers jumped as Andros started to cry out. Tears fell unwilling from his eyes.

            "We have to do something!" cried Cassie.

            Ashley threw her arms around her boyfriend not knowing what else to do. She lay her head face down next to his on the medical bed. She held on to his warm body even tighter as she felt his shaking increase.

            TJ clenched his teeth in worry, and then said "Resisting the spell is leaving him in extreme pain."

            He exchanged an anxious glance with Cassie who had put a comforting hand on Ashley's back.

            "He can't fight against this pain much longer," she said.

            "I know."

            They looked towards Zhane.

            "But I may be able to help him."

            "How?" asked Carlos, but Zhane didn't reply. He gently moved Ashley out of the way then stared through Andros' closed eyelids into his mind.

            *Andros!* cried Zhane telepathically. *Andros! *  He sent his thoughts along the bond that connected the two, but found it blocked. It was the first time Zhane had tried this since he had woken up and at first he thought the bond had been lost, but then he realized that what he had encountered were the mental shields Andros had erected around his mind. Zhane pushed against the shields.

            *Damn it, Andros! Let me in!* he cried.

            Even through the strong shields, Zhane could feel Andros' withering pain leak through.

            *Please, Andros. Let me help you.*

            Andros opened his eyes and gazed into Zhane's. There was a pause then the block was gone. One thought passed from Andros' mind to Zhane's before the pain overwhelmed him.

            *I couldn't hurt you.*


	7. Part 7

         The rangers were shocked when Zhane broke eye contact with Andros and his rigid body suddenly sagged to the ground. TJ and Carlos knelt down beside him and held him up. Meanwhile, Andros' body relaxed and his cries ceased. 

         "What did you do?" asked TJ his gaze going back and forth between Zhane and Andros.

         "A little pain buffering," croaked Zhane, his usual goofy smile trying to crack through the expression of pain on his face. "I opened up the telepathic link between us so that I can burden some of the pain he's feeling."

         "You're feeling what he's feeling?" asked Carlos.

         "It's more of a sharing. That way neither of us has to deal with the full force of the pain." Zhane tried to get up, but he quickly collapsed again. TJ and Carlos helped him onto a medical bed next to Andros.

         "But that still leaves both of you in a lot of pain," said Ashley. "Can't we give him some pain killers or a sedative?"

         "No!" shouted Zhane sitting up. "The spell might be able to work while he's unconscious and then he wouldn't be able to fight it. We can't risk it."

         "What about you?" asked Cassie.

         Zhane tiredly lay back down on the med-bed. "I have to stay awake to maintain the mind link."

         A hoarse whisper came from the other bed, "It's my fault. I should have stopped those quantrons. I should have…"

         Ashley squeezed his damp hand even harder. "No, it is not," she said. "Astronema's one who caused all of this and you know it."

         Andros sighed. His whole body was still tense and shivering. His skin was too pale. He closed his eyes trying to shut out the pain. Zhane reached over and shook his shoulder.

         "Hey buddy, stay awake now."

         "I don't think that's going to be a problem," said Andros opening his eyes. "I'm pretty sure this pain will keep me awake." 

         "Still, you'd better be careful," pointed out TJ. "We'll find a way to get those shackles from Astronema. You two stay here and make sure to keep each other awake."

         Andros and Zhane nodded. TJ and Carlos left the room heading for the bridge. Cassie grasped Ashley's arm and gently pulled her away from Andros.

         "We'll send down Alpha to keep you company," Cassie said.

         Ashley put on a weak smile as they left. 

"We'll get them for you." 

****

 "What do you mean it's still not working!!"

Ecliptor refused to flinch or cringe from the bellows of his princess. He analyzed the data from the shackles and the scanners as Astronema glared at him.

"The red ranger is still resisting."

"That's not possible," she cried. "No one can resist the Shadorian power."

"The red ranger is," declared Ecliptor. "Either he is much more powerful than we thought, or the other rangers have found a way to help him."

Astronema snarled. She walked away, her wrath staff slamming against the ground with every step.

Turning around she said, "Alright! Send the quantrons down. We'll enslave another ranger. They can't all be as resistant as the red ranger."

****

Zhane sat up quickly as the alarm sounded. Andros simply groaned.

"Damn it!" said Zhane as he struggled to get off the bed. Alpha held him down.

"The others are dealing with it, Zhane," he said. "They will take care of it."

Zhane sighed and lay back down.

Andros started to protest. "They'll need our help. We can't just lie here."

"You're definitely not going anywhere," commanded Zhane.

"Why not?"

"Have you forgotten you're little dive in the river?"

"But…"

Zhane cut him off. "Besides which if anything happens to you, you may no longer be able to resist the shackles' spell."

"Nothing will happen to me, but something might happen to the others if we're not there."

"Which is why I'm going down," declared Zhane as he sat up again.

"No, you're not," Alpha quickly stated.

Zhane groaned.

"Besides," Andros put in, "if anything happens to you, I won't last much longer anyway. If I go down, you'll still be around to help."

"Neither of you are going anywhere!" cried a tired Alpha.

Andros and Zhane calmed down.

"Can we at least see what's going on down there?" asked Andros.

Deca obligingly put the battle on a screen in the med bay. They saw their friends fighting among swarms of quantrons. The rangers were morphed due to the sheer number of the robotic drones. They were holding their own using the skill they knew so well, when Ecliptor joined them. Andros, Zhane and Alpha watched as Ecliptor's sword sliced across the yellow rangers stomach in a shower of sparks before she fell to the ground.

"That's it!" said Andros as he sat up. "Where's my morpher?" But as Andros' feet touched the floor, he was swept by a wave of dizziness. Zhane only just managed to catch him.

"I don't think so," said Zhane as he lifted Andros back on to the bed. He brushed a hand against Andros' forehead. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

He transported away with Alpha's cry of "Zhanneeeeee!!" in his ears.


	8. Part 8

A.N. I'm going away for a week so you'll have to wait for the rest. Hopefully, that will give me time to finish the last two parts. Thanks to all the reviewers and readers.

"Oof." The air was pushed out of TJ's lungs by the lucky punch of a quantron. Knowing that they wouldn't give him any time to recover, he crouched down and did a sweeping kick that knocked the quantrons surrounding him off their feet. He got back up in time to see Ashley sliced by Ecliptor. He rushed forward to keep Ecliptor distracted while Carlos got Ashley out of the way.

Blocking Ecliptor's swings, TJ managed to get in a few hits with his Astral Axe, but a swift kick from Ecliptor knocked him onto his back. He saw the sword coming down at him before he had a chance to leap up or role out of the way, but the sword never reached him. Half way there it hit against the Super Silverisor. TJ glanced over at his silver friend, as Zhane did a quick upward cut which flung Ecliptor away from them.

"Zhane…" grumbled TJ as the silver ranger helped him up.  "You shouldn't be here."

"I'm fine," said Zhane, but TJ could hear that he was already breathing heavily and he knew that only the strength of the power was holding him up.

"You're as bad as Andros," commented TJ.

"Not that any of us stay in the med bay as long as we should," pointed out Cassie as she joined them.

"Rangers!" shouted Ecliptor as he charged towards them.

TJ and Cassie went to face him telling Zhane to stay back. Zhane looked around and was glad to see that Ashley was back up and apparently hadn't been hurt too badly. She and Carlos were facing off against the still large number of quantrons. He headed over to help them.

Suddenly he felt metallic hands on his shoulders. Remembering what had happened to Andros, he acted. He stopped them from bringing him to the ground by throwing his weight forward; then, he struck one with his elbow knocking it off his left shoulder. He was about to throw the others off when he felt the pressure of something slam around his wrist. It burned. It burned right through his armor causing him to demorph. He fell forward, his body spasmming. He didn't pay any attention to what was going on around him, but as he suddenly fell forward, he felt Andros' mind slip away from his as the link broke.

****

"No!"

Alpha jumped and so would have Deca if she could. Andros thrashed around, tears and sweats pouring down his flushed face. Alpha tried to hold Andros down as he lashed out knocking down nearby instruments.

Suddenly, the cries and moans were silenced and Andros stopped shaking. His body went limp like a broken doll, before suddenly tensing as he sat up.  

"Andros?" asked Alpha, but he got no reply. "Andros!"

"Andros is being controlled by the Shadorian Shackles," said Deca.

"Something must have happened to Zhane."

Meanwhile, Andros was stiffly walking out of the med bay. Alpha hurried after him. He caught up to Andros in the corridor. Squeezing past him, Alpha blocked Andros' way to the rest of the ship.

"Fight it, Andros," pleaded Alpha, but as he looked up into Andros' eyes, he saw that though Andros was conscious, he wasn't really there. Alpha didn't have a chance to say anything more before Andros slammed him against the wall. Alpha slid to the floor, his circuits shaken by the impact. As he sat there cursing his inability to fight as well as the rangers, he saw Andros move towards the bridge.


	9. Part 9

As Zhane shook away the haze of pain, he heard the familiar sound of fists against metal before he saw TJ and Cassie kneel besides him.

"Are you alright?" asked Cassie.

"I don't know," answered Zhane. He gazed down at his burning wrist and was glad to see the brand slowly fade. "I guess it doesn't work with only one."

"How do you feel?" asked TJ.

"A bit sore, but I'll be fine." Zhane rubbed his forehead, instinctively reaching out for his best friend's mind; then he remembered and he gazed up at the other two rangers his face showing his dread. "I've lost the link with Andros."

"Can you get it back?"

"No, we're too far away. I have to get back to the Megaship."

"I'll go," insisted TJ. "You're no condition to deal with Andros."

"But I might be the only one who can get through to him," pleaded Zhane. "Anyway, you're needed here. Stopping Andros won't matter unless those shackles are destroyed."

TJ nodded in reluctant agreement and Zhane instantly teleported to the Megaship.

****

Zhane reappeared in the Medical Bay and found Alpha sprawled on the floor.

"Alpha! Are you okay?" Zhane asked as he helped the android up.

"I'm functioning, but I'm afraid I let Andros get passed me. I don't know where he's gone, but the Shackles now have complete control over him."

"Deca, where's Andros?"

"Andros is on the bridge."

Zhane ran to the bridge as quickly as he could. There he found Andros tearing apart the bridge controls with his bare hands. Zhane was very thankful that they had taken away Andros' morpher. He would have hated to see what kind of damage Andros could have done morphed.

"Andros?"

'Andros' stiffly turned around bringing to bare a large piece of metal console. The body stepped forward preparing to attack, but the eyes did not match the actions. Andros' eyes were full of fear and anger as they locked with Zhane's. Zhane automatically searched for his friend's presence. He found it, but was then suddenly mentally blasted away. He cursed. The spell must have gotten stronger when Andros stopped fighting. 'Andros' took another step towards Zhane lifting up the piece of metal. Zhane took a step back.

"Zhane," came the strangled cry.

"Fight it!" shouted Zhane as he ducked and rolled under Andros' clumsy swing. He came up behind Andros and grabbed his arms.

"Fight it!" he said again.

"Can't" Andros managed to say before he threw Zhane off him. Zhane stumbled back. Finding himself trapped in a corner, Zhane reluctantly raised his Astro blaster. Andros approached him, raising the metal club and bringing it down on the navigation console. Zhane raised a hand o protect his eyes as sparks and shards of glass and metal flew. He glanced at the shattered circuits and broken wires which formed the remains of the console, before turning back to Andros.

"Please," breathed Andros.

Zhane glanced down at his Astro blaster, understanding exactly what Andros meant.

"But…"

"Please! Stop me!" screamed Andros swinging the metal club towards Zhane.

Zhane fired.    


	10. Part 10

A.N.: Here it is, finally! I'm sorry for leaving it at such a cliffhanger, but I am a slow and lazy writer. I'll start writing the next chapter right now. I promise!

Dedication: To Lyndsey who emailed me about five times demanding that I update.

The blast hit the quantron dead on, but to TJ's disappointment, the shackles had already been passed on to another. He cursed and wished he had time to check up on things in the Megaship. If Zhane didn't find a way to reach Andros…

TJ gestured for Carlos to circle behind the quantrons while he met them head on. Astronema's mechanical lackeys seemed to have given up on enslaving their enemies and were tossing the shackles between them as if teasing the earth rangers. The rangers kept their eyes on the dark metal. The bands were inscribed with the same symbols that currently marked Andros' wrists. They were connected by a large chain that the quantrons swung above their heads taunting the rangers.

The Blue Ranger raised his Astro Axe into the air aiming for the quantron bearing the manacles, but instead of striking, he signalled to Carlos. The Black Ranger quickly used his Astro Blaster to blast the quantron in the back before it had the chance to rid itself of its burden. 

The shackles were thrown into the air by the explosion. The Pink Ranger leapt for them, but instead they were grasped by a crystalline shaped hand of green veined ebony. 

"Looking for these?" challenged Ecliptor waving the metal bands at the rangers. 

The rangers fell into formation behind TJ as the quantrons did the same behind Ecliptor.

"Give it up, Ecliptor!" shouted TJ. "You've already lost. You know these shackles don't work."

If Ecliptor could have, he would have smirked. "Then where, may I ask, are your red and silver friends?"

A dark wave of anger passed through the rangers causing them to clench their fists and grit their teeth. TJ took a step forward.

"I'm sure they'll be joining me soon," continued Ecliptor, "If they're still alive that is."

The rangers charged forward. Ecliptor took advantage of their clumsy move throwing them to the side with slashes of his sword. They fell, sparks flying.

"Give up?" laughed Ecliptor. "Maybe that's an option you should consider rangers."

TJ quickly got to his feet and prepared to face their enemy again, but a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Wait a second, Teej," said Cassie. "I've got an idea."

After a quick conference, the rangers spread out concentrating their attack on the quantrons. Ecliptor eyed them suspiciously.

"Have you rangers no courage without your leader?"

He pressed forward knocking the quantrons out of the way as he prepared to attack the blue ranger.

Suddenly, he found himself caught between the two laser beams from the pink and yellow rangers who had manoeuvred themselves to either side of him. During this moment of disorientation, he was hit from behind and sent sprawling. The force of his landing caused him to release his grip causing the shackles to shoot forward. Recovering quickly, Ecliptor spotted them just a few feet away. He reached forward but before he could grab them, a hook in the shape of a crescent moon scooped them up.

"Why thank you, Ecliptor," said the black ranger as he slid the shackles off his lunar lance.

Ecliptor cursed. Reversing his direction, he stood up and without even a parting threat, teleported away.

"Great job, Carlos," said Cassie patting him on the back.

"Hey, it was your idea," he replied.

TJ took the shackles from Carlos. "I think its time we got rid of these things for good."

"Right," agreed the other rangers.

The blue ranger placed the shackles down in front of the rangers.

"Quadro Blaster!"

The power of the rangers soon reduced the ancient weapon to atomic particles. Their cheer, however, was short lived as they recalled the situation of their friends left on the megaship.

"Let's go guys," commanded TJ.

The other rangers nodded before they disappeared in streams of light.

****

It was usually safer and more energy efficient for the rangers to take their galaxy gliders than to teleport blindly directly onto the ship, but at the moment they didn't care. The health and safety of their fellow rangers was more important.

The rangers appeared at the back of the bridge and froze in shock at what they saw.  The bright lights clearly showed the destruction that had occurred.  Large gashes were in the metal walls. Some of the consoles were cracked while others had parts broken off and wires torn out, the electricity from them still sending sparks.  Shards of metal and glass fallen off damaged equipment littered the floor.

But there was no sign of their friends.

"Deca!" demanded Ashley. "Where are they?"

"Andros and Zhane are in Medbay."

The rangers could easily detect the distress in the computer's normally tone-less voice, but they did not wait for any explanations. They immediately headed for the megalift.

As they swiftly approached the medbay, they could hear Zhane shouting.

"What do you mean, Deca? You have to do something!"

The rangers rushed through the door and were greeted by the sight of their leader lying pale and unconscious on the bed while his best friend leaned over him waving a scanner across his body. A bandage covered the chest of the red ranger. The burnt remains of his shirt had been tossed onto a nearby chair. His hands were scratched and bloody. He lay very still breathing shallowly.

"Come on. Come on," muttered the silver ranger. He quickly adjusted the settings on the scanner and started another scan.

"I still can not find any cause for his condition," announced Deca.

"Zhane! What happened?" demanded TJ.

"He's…he's in a coma," he stuttered, "and…" He stopped and swore as the scan once again turned out to be inconclusive. He threw the scanner against the wall where it shattered into pieces. The other rangers jumped at the unusual burst of anger from the silver ranger. Zhane sat down on the chair by the bed and placed his face in his hands. "And…" he said again looking up, "it's all my fault."


	11. Part 11

A.N. Presenting the incredibly short part 11

"What did you do?" asked Ashley in confusion.

Zhane sighed running his hands through his platinum hair. "He was going to destroy the megaship. I…I had to stop him. He asked me to stop him." He paused

Ashley walked over to the side of the bed and gently took Andros' hand careful of the scratches and burns. 

"His hands?" she glanced questioningly at Zhane.

"They had him tearing apart the bridge barehanded," he sighed again. "That's why it's such a mess up there."

"And his chest?" asked TJ looking at the bandage wrapped around the red ranger.

Zhane looked away. "I shot him," he said quietly, "with my Astro Blaster."

Glancing up, he saw the shocked faces of his friends and stood up, desperate to explain.

"I had to stop him," he repeated earnestly. "It was set at the lowest setting. Just to stun him. The burns on his chest are minor and will be gone in a couple of days, but…" He sat back down and fixed his eyes on the pale face of his best friend. "Something must have gone wrong. Some sort of backlash or interaction with the spell has put him in a coma and DECA doesn't know how or why, or how to get him out of it!"

Zhane shut his eyes and bowed his head laying a hand on Andros' forehead. He gently brushed back Andros' hair praying that he would wake up. A hand on his shoulder caused him to reopen his eyes and look up.

"It's not your fault," said Cassie. "We don't blame you."

"You did what you had to do," added TJ.

Zhane clenched his fist in frustration. "But I should have done it differently, should have come up with some plan instead of simply shooting him!" He shouted slamming his fist into the nearby wall.

"Hey, take it easy," said Carlos. "We don't even know if the laser blast had anything to do with the coma. It's most likely that the spell from the shackles did this all on its own."

Zhane took a deep breath and shook his head. Glancing across the bed, he saw that Ashley was still quietly stroking Andros' hand her eyes fixed on the comatose ranger. The heart monitor beeped faintly in the background as DECA continuously observed Andros' life signs. 

"Have the scans found anything new?" TJ asked the computer.

"Negative."

"What do we do now?" asked Cassie.

The answer came surprisingly from DECA. "Wait."

"Wait?" repeated Carlos. "We have to do something."

"With no conclusive cause for his condition, any possible treatment could have negative consequences. It would be more prudent to observe whether he'll recover on his own before performing any extreme measures." 

"And when is it time to perform extreme measures?" questioned Carlos.

"The longer he remains unconscious the lower the probability that he'll recover by himself."

"Can't you reach him?" Ashley asked suddenly looking up at Zhane. "Your telepathic bond," she explained. "Can you use that to wake him up?"

"I've tried," sighed Zhane. "I can feel his presence, but it's as if his mind isn't even there. I've been calling him… Maybe a more powerful telepath with more skill could do something, but…"

"Alright," said TJ taking command. "We wait, but right now we all need food and rest. We take turns watching Andros so that someone is here when he wakes up."

"Don't worry," said Zhane. "I have no intention of leaving this room till then."

"You'll need to rest sometime," insisted Cassie.

"I'll be fine."

Cassie gave in deciding not to push Zhane anymore. Finally feeling the exhaustion from the physical and emotional turmoil of the day, the rangers quietly began to leave the room. As Cassie reached the doorway, she turned. 

"Ashley?"

The yellow ranger who had been once again gazing at Andros looked up.

"Come on," said Cassie placing an arm around her friend's shoulder and escorting her out of the room. "Let's get something to eat.'

Left behind in the now quiet room, Zhane rested his head in his hands, the sound of the heart monitor becoming loud and ominous to his ears.


	12. Part 12

A.N. Sorry for being so slow and killing everyone with suspense. Only one more part to go! 

Dedication: To Mouse who gave me a boot in the bum and also wrote a very nice Zhane/Andros friendship fic!

"Andros can sure make a mess when he wants to." 

Carlos was lying on his back reconstructing the scanner console. He pulled a wire out of the remains and attached it to one of the damaged circuits. The machinery suddenly started to smoke and let out a spark making Carlos jump. "Oops," he muttered quickly realigning the wires.

TJ, who was sweeping up broken glass nearby, grinned. "Try not to burn your fingers off."

"Ha. Ha."

"I guess it's strange considering how he's normally the cleanliest of all of us," commented TJ as he considered what Carlos had said, "Especially when it comes to this ship."

"Which is why we'd better hurry up and make this place tidy and functioning before he wakes up," put in Cassie while she ran a scanner over the communication console.

"If he wakes up." Carlos paused in his work and sighed. "Do you think he'll be okay? I mean ... are we doing the right thing?"

TJ leaned on the broom. "You know I hate not doing anything, but we simply don't have many options." Starting to sweep once again, he added, "He'll be alright. He's strong, strong and stubborn."

"Right."

Falling silent, the rangers drifted into their own brooding thoughts as they spent their second day trying to fix the damage done to the bridge. They all knew it would have been done much faster if their two kerovian friends had been able to help them.

"Did Zhane get any sleep last night?" Cassie asked when she had completed her scan.

"Negative," replied DECA who kept a constant eye on both Andros and Zhane.

"Has he slept or eaten at all in the past couple of days?" questioned TJ.

"He fell asleep once and was so panicked when he woke up. He thinks something bad will happen to Andros if he isn't always watching him. I don't think he'll let himself fall asleep again."

"I brought him some food this morning," said Carlos as he tried to fuse some wires together without fusing them to his fingers, "but I doubt he'll eat any. He's too worried about Andros."

"He still feels responsible," TJ pointed out.

"And he should," said Ashley poking at a console at the front of the bridge in an attempt to recalibrate the systems. "He's the one who shot him."

"Ashley!" 

"He only did what he had to do. He didn't have any other choice."

"I know. I know," sighed Ashley. "I just feel so frustrated. I need someone to blame."

Cassie walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Blame Astronema. You can take it out on her next time we fight."

Ashley gave a small smile. "Thanks." After a few last calibrations, she stood up and headed out of the bridge. "I'm going to check on Andros. Maybe I can even convince Zhane to get some rest."

"Good luck," Cassie called after her.

"If any one can do it, she can." Carlos smirked sitting up from under the scanner console. "She can be very persuasive."

****

"Zhane… Zhane!"

The silver ranger blinked coming out of the trance he'd fallen into. He automatically checked Andros, his eyes going over the instruments' readings and the still form of the red ranger, but there was no change. He sighed and grabbed a hold of Andros' hand before looking up to see who had called him.

Ashley stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. She tried to give him an angry glare, but the sadness shone in her eyes.

"You," she insisted, "need to get some sleep."

Zhane turned back to Andros and shook his head. "I'm not leaving him."

Ashley moved to stand besides him. "You know perfectly well that Deca can watch him even better than your tired eyes."

"He needs me."

"He needs you to be healthy and well when he wakes up and right now you look like you're going to collapse." She glanced at the tray of food besides Zhane. "Did you even eat anything?"

"I'm not hungry."

"I don't care if you're not hungry. You need to eat."

Zhane just shook his head again.

Ashley knelt down so that she was at the same level as the seated Zhane. "I'll stay with him while you take a break," she said placing a hand on his cheek to turn him to face her. "I promise to take care of him."

Zhane nodded, but still seemed reluctant to leave. Ashley grabbed a hold of his elbow and hauled him to his feet. "Come on," she said pulling him towards the door. She didn't get far before she felt resistance. Looking back, she saw that Zhane was still holding Andros' hand.

"Zhane. Let go."

Zhane sighed and relaxed his grip on Andros, but as he tried to move away, he realized he was still stuck. It slowly dawned in his sleep deprived mind that though he was no longer holding on to Andros' hand. Andros was holding on to him.

"Ashley!"

Ashley put her hand to her lips in shock before rushing to Andros' side. Zhane went to the other side and checked the monitor.

"He's waking up."

Andros groaned his eyelids fluttering. He shifted positions on the bed and winced in pain.

"Andros, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes and blinked groggily.

"Zhane?" Andros' voice was weak and scratchy. He coughed and winced at the pain in his chest. His mind whirled as it tried to recall what had happened. When it came back to him, he jolted upright causing the room to spin and his lungs to burn.

"Whoa! Easy Andros," said Zhane as he and Ashley gently laid the red ranger back down.

Andros protested trying to get up again. "But Zhane. What happened? Are you okay? Did…"

"It's okay, Andros. I'm fine. The others' are fine. The ship's fine. Everything's fine. You can rest now."

Andros managed to calm down, limply collapsing in exhaustion. His eyes fluttered closed, but he opened them again and turned his head as he felt Ashley squeeze his hand.

"Hey."

"Hey. How do you feel?"

"Sore. Sore all over and tired."

"Go to sleep then. We'll still be here when you wake up."

Andros gave her a small smile before he drifted off.

Smiling, Ashley sat on the stool next to the bed and gently brushed her hand over Andros' hair as she gazed at him. Zhane silently moved towards the doorway and gave Andros one last sorrowful look before leaving the infirmary.


	13. Part 13

A.N. Well things got a bit out of hand and it turns out I lied. This is not the last part. There are one or two or maybe three more. It's short, but I find it easier to write short chapters. Enjoy!

Sighing, Andros ran his fingers through his messy hair. He shifted restlessly. It was a day since he'd woken up and he was more than ready to get out of the infirmary. The other rangers wanted him to rest so he could recover from everything he'd been through. How was he supposed to rest when there was work to be done? He'd been worse. He was fine.

Pushing the blanket off his tracked suit wearing form and onto the floor, he sat up sliding his legs over the edge of the bed. He slipped off the bed, but as soon he placed his weight on his feet, he quickly had to lean against the bed as the room began to spin. When the world was steady again, he once more stood up straight. Perfectly fine, he repeated to himself.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Andros cringed. Looking up, he saw Cassie standing in the doorway her hands on her hips.

"I was just…"

"Right." Cassie picked the blanket off the floor and handed it to him. "Back to bed."

Andros sighed and sat back up on the bed.

"That's better."

Cassie smirked as Andros gave her a look. He lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes. Cassie sat down on the stool next to him.

Opening his eyes, he turned to her. "I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am for striking you during our basketball game the other day."

"Hey, that wasn't your fault. You didn't have any control over your actions."

Andros gave a small smile and nodded.

"So, have you talked to Zhane recently?"

"No," replied Andros turning his head away from her.

"Why not?"

Andros sat up on his elbows. "Well, he doesn't seem to be around here and you sure won't let me out."

"And that stopped you using your communicator to get in touch with him?"

Sighing again, Andros lay down and placed an arm over his eyes.

"Are you upset that he shot you?"

"No!" insisted Andros angrily looking at Cassie.

"Then why are you avoiding him?"

"He's been avoiding _me_."

"But you've none nothing to change that."

"Maybe he has a good reason for avoiding me."

Cassie rested her elbows on the edge of the bed and placed her head in her hands gazing at Andros. "And that would be?"

"I attacked him! Twice! Maybe he hates me."

"And he shot you. Maybe he thinks that you hate him. Have you thought of that?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

Cassie stood up and patted him on the leg. "Stay here and think about that. I'll be right back."

Andros watched Cassie leave and tried to think about what she said, but his raging emotions prevented him from seeing her logic. He mentally cursed. His friendship with Zhane had been strained ever since their two-year separation, a separation that had gone by in a flash to Zhane while Andros spent the years alone. The silver ranger retained his joking sense of humour and love of life, but Andros had grown even more serious and withdrawn with a cynical side that even the presence of the new rangers hadn't managed to relieve. Then one of the first things he'd done when Zhane had awoken was accuse him of trying to take Ashley from him. Zhane had still forgiven him, but afterwards had cruelly let him believe Zhane was dying putting Andros through the same torment he had gone through 2 years before. Yet, Andros hadn't questioned Zhane about it. He had just blamed the callousness on the shock Zhane had to be feeling after finding himself 2 years ahead in a future where his home was destroyed and deserted, blamed himself for causing the distance that had grown between them. When Zhane had been so down the other day, Andros hadn't even been able to find out what was wrong let alone help his best friend. And in return, when Andros had been in trouble, he had kept it to himself. Worst of all the mental connection that they had since they were children was almost nonexistent. They kept their minds closed to each other.  Only letting a few messages and cries for help slip through. When they had connected their minds to fight the Shadorian spell, Andros had been shocked to find out how much their minds had changed and how hard it had been for them to connect. They had been too busy using all of their energy against the spell to deal with it at the time. Andros had wondered whether they had changed too much to have the closeness of the friendship they had had before. Now, he was sure that his attacks on Zhane had eliminated any possibility of it returning. 


	14. Part 14

A.N. Another short part and still not the end.

Zhane lay in the middle of the mess that was his room and stared at the bunk above him. He concentrated on the blank, grey metal trying to empty his mind not thinking, or at least trying not to think, trying not to think about how his best friend was currently lying in the infirmary recovering, because Zhane had failed to protect him, because Zhane had… He was trying not to think about it.

But he'd been doing too much of that recently, not thinking. He hadn't thought about the other rangers when he had been in a desperate rush to date their worst enemy. If it hadn't been for Alpha, he would have left the rangers to be defeated by the Horror Bull while he had a candle lit picnic with Astronema. He hadn't thought about how Andros would feel when Zhane pretended that he was dying. He hadn't even considered what Andros had gone through during the two years he had been on his own. Another thing he didn't want to think about, like the deserted planet that once was their home. Maybe it was time he faced up to that instead of hiding behind his reckless joking.

Zhane turned over to look out of his window into the star field, wondering where his family and the rest of his people were now.  He had abandoned them and they had lost, spread who-knows-where across the universe, if they were even alive. Not that he regretted saving Andros' life. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the quiet red ranger. The stars knew he couldn't have survived the years alone the way Andros had. Andros was the strong one, stubborn and hot headed, but smart and caring. Not like Zhane who had run off to help the other rangers leaving Andros alone to fight off the Shadorian spell. He had sworn to protect Andros and he had failed. Instead, he had found himself gazing down the barrel of his blaster pointed at his best friend, pulling the trigger… 

Zhane closed his eyes desperately trying to shove that image of Andros out of his mind. He didn't want to see Andros once again pushed back by the force of the blast crumpling to the ground a darkened burn across his chest.

A whoosh announced the opening of the door to Zhane's quarters causing him to jump and sit up. Outside the door bathed in the light of the corridor stood both the pink and yellow rangers arms crossed over their chests, stern expressions on their faces. His surprise and confusion turned to annoyance.

"What?"

The two female space rangers looked at each other.

"I'm afraid this one's too far gone."

Ashley nodded. "Agreed. Reasoning with him would be a waste of time."

Zhane began to feel nervous.

"Girls?"

With mischievous smiles, the two girls approached the silver ranger and with swift movements, each grabbed his arms. Zhane felt an annoying sense of déjà vu as he was hauled up and dragged out of the room.

"Hey! Where are we going?"

Ashley gave him a wicked smile.

"You'll soon see."

Zhane laughed nervously. "Very funny, girls, but I really have some work that needs to be done. I don't have time for games."

"This isn't a game," smirked Cassie. "You are going to talk."

"Talk?"

"Ve have vays of making you talk," giggled Ashley.

Zhane didn't get the reference, but tried to struggle away from the surprisingly strong duo. Unfortunately, it was no use as they dragged him into the lift.


	15. Part 15

Lying impatiently in the infirmary, Andros began hearing loud protests drifting down the corridor. Confused, he looked up. Soon enough, Cassie and Ashley burst through the door literally dragging the irritated silver ranger between them. They smugly dumped him onto the stool by the bed. Zhane slumped in the seat and scowled. Andros, sighing, lay back down.

"There we go," announced Cassie dusting pretend dirt off her hands with a smirk. "Now stay. Talk. And remember DECA will be keeping an eye on you two, so don't even think of trying to escape."

"See you later," put in Ashley and blew them a kiss as the girls left. The door to the infirmary closed behind them.

Andros and Zhane glanced at each other, but immediately looked away, their gazes instead touring the metal room. A turmoil of thoughts and feelings spun in the heads of both rangers as they tried to think of what to do or say. The only noise to penetrate the tense air was the familiar hum of the megaship's machinery.

Andros finally turned his gaze to the pale face of his best friend. The silver ranger was currently staring at a spot on the floor, his eyes dark tunnels of exhaustion and anguish. Andros turned away again, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists.

"I'm sorry," he managed to choke out into the silence.

Zhane looked at his friend in shock. "You're sorry?" His eyes glistened with tears as his turmoil of emotions cascaded forth. "Stars, Andros! I'm the one who has to apologies here. Look at what I did to you!"

The red ranger shakily sat up so he could face his friend. "You saved me!" he protested.  
         "I shot you!" Zhane sprang up and started to pace the room his whole body trembling with emotion. "Great way of saving you. I could have killed you!"

Andros shook his head. "But you didn't."

"But I could have! What if you hadn't woken from that coma? Stupid silver ranger can't even come up with a plan to protect his best friend."

An arm caught Zhane's shoulder, stopping his pacing. 

"There wasn't time to come up with a plan. You had to act."

Zhane knocked the hand off his shoulder his face contorted by anger. "You don't understand. When you attacked, I made a choice: you or me. And I chose me."

A shocked silence followed. Despairingly, Zhane sat back down.

Eventually, Andros looked up from where he had been gazing at his feet. "Well, I'm glad you finally did."

"What?!"

Andros rolled his eyes. "You've always chosen other people's needs before your own. You sacrificed your life for mine!" Pausing, Andros ran a hand through his long hair. "I couldn't have handled it if I had lost you again. I couldn't survive living through that another time."

Zhane let out a snort. "Maybe I just sacrificed myself so I wouldn't be the one left alone." Sighing, he placed his face in his hands and whispered, "And that's what I'm the most sorry for."

"Zhane?."

Eyes reflecting his guilt, the silver ranger looked up at his friend. "I abandoned you. I left you alone for two years. I failed you. I failed our people, our home and because of that we almost lost everything."

"We had already lost. You know that. By that time, the planet was overrun. We were already evacuating. There wasn't much else you could have done." The red ranger let out a long sigh and looked away. "But I do often wonder what I should have done, what I could have done to save our world before any of that happened. If I had stopped to think instead of running arrogantly into battle with that monster, maybe I could have at least saved you those two missing years. It feels like you're always getting hurt because of me."

"No, Andros," interrupted Zhane shaking his head. "Don't start blaming yourself. I know you're the expert in that area, but…"

His friend gave him an annoyed glare.

"…but what I did, it was my decision. You're not responsible for everything you know."

"I know. I know," insisted Andros in response to the silver rangers incredulous look "I just wish I could have spared you that loss. When you woke up things had changed so much. It must have seemed like a completely different world. It was hard for you to adjust and I wasn't much help."

"There wasn't anything you could have done. Things had changed. A lot of things have changed."

"Including us."

Zhane frowned recalling the peculiar way both of them had been acting the past few weeks. "That's true. We have changed. And I don't know if things will ever be the same."

Bowing his head, Andros closed his eyes. "But we're still best friends, right?"

The silver ranger reached over and embraced the red ranger.

"Forever."


	16. Epilogue

"Have you seen either Andros or Zhane this morning?" TJ asked Carlos as they meandered down one of the megaship's many corridors on their way to the bridge. They had just finished breakfast and were planning to get an early start on their search for Zordon.

"No," replied the black ranger shaking his head. He looked towards his friend. "Do you think they're alright?"

"I don't know, but after Ashley and Cassie's little intervention yesterday…" Carlos rolled his eyes. "…it seems they're at least talking to each other again."

"Right." Carlos let out a sigh. "Man, I can't believe all the stuff they've been through."

"I know."

"I just can't help wondering how their friendship has suffered. I mean, imagine if something like that had happened to one of us and we had ended up hurting each other. I don't know if I could have coped."

"They'll cope. They've been through too much to give up now."

 "But their friendship... I almost wonder if with everything they've been through, if this could be the straw that broke the camel's back. I mean look what's been going on since Zhane woke up. You'd have thought they didn't even trust each other."

"It's not surprising that with everything that has happened that their friendship has changed. People drift apart. It's a natural part of life. They may never be the close friends they once were, but they should be alright in time."

"Yeah."

The following moment of silent contemplation was interrupted by a sudden yelp, a roar and a thunder of feet. The two rangers looked behind them to see the red ranger still clad in the red track suit he'd been wearing in the infirmary, slightly out of breath as he raced by them. And directly behind him, came the silver ranger clad in the shorts and tank top he usually wore to bed, and soaking wet.

"He's escaped! He's escaped!" shouted Zhane as he rushed past the shocked blue and black rangers and disappeared round the corner after Andros. 

TJ and Carlos remained frozen in bewilderment, but before they could recover, they heard a scuffle and a loud thud. The other rangers soon reappeared. This time, however, Zhane was holding Andros by the armpits as he dragged the red ranger back down the corridor. Andros wasn't making too much protest, at least not physically.

"Come on. Back to the infirmary with you. You need to recover."

"But I'm fine," exclaimed Andros.

"Fine? You couldn't even come up with an original way of waking me up. I mean water?"

"I didn't have time to come up with anything else."

"Well, you'll have lots of time once you're back in the infirmary. I'll strap you in so you'll be nice and comfy."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. And don't even think of asking DECA for help or I'll lock out your command codes."

"You can't do that!"

"I can."

"Couldn't I at least sleep in my room?"

"No, I want DECA to be able to monitor you."

"Please."

"No."

"But…"

"No!"

When the pair finally passed out of site, TJ and Carlos looked at each and simultaneously announced, "They're alright." And then collapsed in laughter against the corridor walls the argument still echoing down the passageway to their ears.

The End

Author's Note: It's finally done! I was sure I was going to have it done in just a few weeks, but that was almost a year ago. Well, thank you to my many reviewers. You are all so nice. And thank you especially to all the people who emailed me to insist that I had to finish this. As for what I'm doing next, I'm currently working on Forever Friends with Mouse (it's under her name if you want to read it), I promise to do at least one more part of Different Directions this year (hopefully, I'll do more than one), and a big project I hope to do is my giant Forever-Red-Plothole-Filler which is going to be so fun to write, but will probably take me years and years to finish. Thanks again for reading, Daylight.


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